REVENGE
by Esmarias
Summary: A certain member of our A-shift has been pranked one time too many...


_**REVENGE**_

Late in the evening, when it was dark out, he had set up the tall step ladder in the empty apparatus bay, the one they used to replace lights in the ceiling. He had installed his new toy into the rafters in a place where it would have good aim but still be hidden from sight. All he had to do was press the little red button he had constructed. It had taken a little time, but it was finally finished... and just in time, too, if he was going to go all the way with it, which he was planning to. He knew that Cap would have his hide if he knew what he was doing... but if it all worked out, then it would all be worth it. And that's IF Cap found out.

He almost couldn't believe he was doing this – he just wasn't the pranking type. But, oh, how he needed to do this! It seemed only the LEAST he could do!

Having finished tweaking and fiddling with the gadget, he stepped down from the ladder and then put the ladder away. He wouldn't be able to test it; he could only hope that it would work on the first try. From the open HT, he could hear that the station was returning to quarters. He shrugged. Apparently the structure fire was over. His time was up. Oh well: he'd done what needed doing. As he left the station and headed for his vehicle, he felt for the small little remote that he had brought along in his pocket. All he had to do now was wait for his opportunity to strike.

Two days later:

Back on shift, after a dumpster fire that the engine crew had successfully squelched right before roll call, he had been assigned the hose tower – by himself. Thankfully, there wasn't much hose that needed hanging. Perched on the tower, he worked slowly, waiting for that opportunity, but he finished before it arrived. So he went back into the station and spied on his shiftmates through lunch, making sure that no-one had caught onto what he was planning on doing.

A station-wide call had sent them rolling to a warehouse fire right after their meal. With the assistance of another station, station 86, they completed this run without any injuries – even though the owner had been illegally storing chemicals inside the building, and there had been multiple flashovers. But as was said before: no injuries. No trips to Rampart for anybody. But engine 51, being the closest to the scene, was soaking wet from having stood in the crossfire of a couple of rouge hoses that some rookies weren't taking very good care of.

When they arrived back at the barn, he was hoping fervently that he could get Chet alone in here sometime today. One of the other guys went to go take a quick shower. Cap went into his office and closed the door behind him. He was going to get on the phone with his wife to talk to her about something, although what, nobody but the Cap knew. The other two were out in the back lot. Having finished their chores already, they were going play a mean game of basketball. He could've kissed Cap when the man told Chet to dry off the engine – all by himself. He settled for a secret smile that nobody saw. Well actually, it was more of a devious grin. This was going to be more fun than he originally planned!

He waited until Chet had finished drying the engine. Chet walked into the day room where his friend was standing around, doing nothing.

"Watcha doin'?" Chet asked.

"Nuthin' much," the other fireman answered. "What're YOU doin'?"

"Making myself a sandwhich," Chet replied as he opened the refrigerator door and leaned in. "Boy, my arms are tired. I don't think I'll be working on ole' Red again by myself anytime soon if I can help it."

The other man kept a straight face as he nodded. But in his head he was thinking, '_Don't be so sure.'_

As Chet fixed his sandwich, his shiftmate snuck over to the little window on the rec room door without Kelly's noticing. Peering through, as far as he could tell, nobody else was around. '_Here goes,'_ he thought as he slipped a hand into his pocket and felt the little button on the hidden remote with his finger. '_This is for the water bombs.'_ He pushed the button, held it, then released. It worked!

Cap came out of his office, his phone call finished. He froze at what he saw. "Kelly!" He barked. It had to have been well over an hour now. There was no response. Cap marched to the rec room where he saw one of his men sitting on the couch reading and Chet at the table eating a sandwhich.

"Kelly!" He said again.

Chet jumped and whipped around in his chair. He still had a bite of his ham and cheese sandwich in his mouth and he slightly resembled a chipmunk. Crumbs remained on his lips and mustache and had he not been irritated with the man, Hank might have considered laughing.

"I thought I told you to dry off the engine," Cap continued, with his arms folded across his chest. His facial expression was all business.

Chet swallowed and wiped the crumbs with the back of his hand before answering, "I did."

"C'mere," Hank gestured with his head to the door and then started walking out it. He waited in the doorway for Chet to follow before continuing. As he rounded the squad and took a good look at the engine, Chet's jaw dropped. "Cap... Cap, I-" he stuttered out in pure disbelief as he stared at the soaked vehicle.

"Chet, I don't wanna hear it," Cap cut him off, slicing his hand through the air. "Clean this up. _Now_."

"Yessir," Chet said automatically. "Can I get some help?" He quickly called to his Cap's retreating figure.

Cap spun around to face him and replied with a firm, "No."

Sighing resignedly, Chet went back to work, all the while wondering...

He waited patiently. By the time Chet was done, for the second time, the squad had been out on two runs already. Chet walked back into the rec room and flopped down on the couch next to his smirking shiftmate. But Kelly couldn't see the smirk – because the man was hiding it between the pages of his book.

"Watcha readin'?" Chet asked.

"Nuthin' much," his friend replied, repeating what he had said earlier. "What're you doin'?"

"Like you; nuthin' much. Except for working my tail off on that engine. I wonder how it got wet again?"

The other man shrugged casually before shutting his book and getting up. He went over to the TV where he picked up the day's newspaper, which had been tossed on top of the television set. Then, pretending to read it, he walked past the door again and secretly looked out the window. Again, as far as he could tell, no-one was around. Sitting down at the table with the paper, he once again slipped his hand into his pocket and fingered the device. '_This is for the packing peanuts that you stuffed in my locker.'_ He pushed the button.

A few minutes later: "Kelly!"

"Yeah Cap?"

"Get yourself out here!"

Chet flew from the couch and ran into the bay to his Captain. His eyes bugged out of their sockets as he skidded to a stop and stuttered, "B-b-but Cap, I... I mean I..."

"No excuses! Get this cleaned up, now I mean it! No more breaks 'till it's finished!"

"B-but Cap, I did! I did! Finish... I did... but... you... I... Cap!"

Hank paid the procrastinator no mind as he simply walked away and left his stammering lineman behind him to once again dry off the wet engine.

Quite awhile later, Chet walked back into the room. His shiftmate was at the table, playing a solo game of cards. The invisible other player's hand was face down across from him.

"Whatcha playin'?" Chet asked.

"Nuthin' much." Back into the pocket went the hand. "What are _you_ doing?" '_This is for the short-sheeted bed.'_ Push.

Chet opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by an angry shout from his captain: "**CHESTER B!**"

Chet muttered something under his breath as he slowly turned and went back out into the garage. A few words were said, and overheard, between him and the Captain. He could've sworn he heard something about 'disciplinary action'. Time to wind it down.

By the time Chet returned, all the men were now in the day room. Johnny was watching a cartoon on the television, Cap was on the couch sipping coffee, Roy and Mike were playing cards, and Marco was stirring up some chili for dinner. Amazingly, the engine hadn't been called out on a single run since that afternoon.

"Hey guys," Chet said wearily. Various greetings replied.

"What've you been up to?" Johnny asked suspiciously. "Haven't seen ya all day."

"Oh..." Chet yawned, but didn't bother raising his arm to cover it. "Just drying every inch of the engine."

"Sounds absolutely exhausting," Johnny said sarcastically without taking his eyes off Wile E. Coyote chasing the road runner with an ACME rocket strapped to his back.

"For the third time."

Everyone seemed surprised at that, although by now, Chet realized that someone had to be faking his reaction. This anomaly had to be caused by somebody here, in this room, and he was already fairly certain of who it was. Although, how, he wasn't quite sure of. Yet.

"Why don't you sit down? Dinner's almost ready," Marco offered from his position by the stove.

"No thanks, pal. I think I'll stand."

"Why do you wanna stand?" Mike asked, debating whether or not he should take Roy's discarded Jack of Hearts.

"Because every time today that I sit down, IT happens again."

Nobody asked what 'IT' was. They all had a pretty good idea of what he meant.

"How would you feel if I went and saw for myself if 'IT'" Cap drew air quotes, "has happened again yet or not?" He wasn't sure whether to believe his crewman or not.

"Knock yourself out," Chet replied.

'_This is for the egg in my helmet.'_ Push. Cap stood up and left the room.

Silence. As he waited for the volcano to erupt, he was surprised when Cap walked back through the door. "Chet," he said simply. Then he turned around and walked back out. Chet hung his head and sighed deeply before getting up and following. Everyone else also followed him. Marco had turned off the stove. Everyone's curiosity had overcome their appetites. Except for one. One man stayed back. He waited until he thought they were all in place. '_This is for no-one sticking up for me,_' he thought, although he had a grin on his face. Push.

From the various shouts and surprised cries, he knew he had hit his targets. '_Sorry Johnny,_' he thought to his friend, '_but if you hadn't've gotten hurt off-duty, by trying to impress a girl no less, then I wouldn't have become the Phantom's temporary pigeon. Man, how do you put up with it? It was like he was on some sort of spree with me!_' Then he made himself look busy by taking out the trash as five men trudged back into the room, all dripping wet. Johnny and Chet were arguing.

"I can't believe you did this! My first day back? Man, I don't believe you! I just don't believe you!" Johnny hadn't thought that the Phantom would strike, but apparently, he had been mistaken.

"Me? It was you! You're just trying to look innocent by getting wet like the rest of us!"

"_I'm_ trying to look innocent? You're the one who was 'working all day, drying off the engine'!" Johnny obviously didn't buy into it.

"Guys!" Cap ended the conversation. Let's _all_ work together and get the engine cleaned up before-"

The rest of his words were drowned out by the klaxons, calling the station out to a heart attack victim.

Johnny and Roy both rode in with the patient and Chet followed in the squad. Roy tried hard to tune out the other two men's arguing and focus on the road on the ride back, but it was difficult. Honestly, he didn't care. With the summer heat, the brief shower in the bay had actually felt good. He didn't understand what their problem was.

Meanwhile, back at the station, someone slipped a little device inside one of the lockers. '_This...'_ he thought with an evil grin, '_This is just for fun!'_ He shut the locker door and walked out.

The next day at shift change, all the men from A and B-shift were standing around in the garage, chatting, all except for four. Both captains were in the office. One was in the day room, getting ready to leave, but wanting to stick around for just a bit longer to see what would happen. Johnny opened his locker. He was the only one left in the locker room, the last to get changed out of his uniform. When a small remote with a red button on it caught his eye, he picked it up, puzzling over what it was and who left it there.

"Hey guys?" He called out. "What's this?" Out of curiosity of what would happen, he pushed down the button, and held it for several seconds.

Stunned silence reigned throughout the bay as eight men found themselves chatting companionably one second, and the next, conversation had ceased as they found themselves getting soaked with a several-seconds-long cold shower. The Captains emerged from the office and took in the sight that befell them, keeping back a ways, so as not to get wet themselves. Captain Stanley looked up to see where the shower was coming from. By stepping to the side, he could just barely see some sort of large sprinkler devices that had been hooked into the emergency fire sprinkler system. So _that's_ where the water was coming from! Back in the locker room, Johnny released the button, thinking that it was just some sort of toy that someone had stuck in his locker for a joke, and that it didn't really do anything. Coming out of the locker room, he was surprised to find several pairs of eyes aimed at him – and the device in his hand. Not to mention everyone was dripping wet.

"I _knew_ it was you!" Chet yelled, pointing an accusing finger.

"What? You mean this...?" _Ooh._ Johnny suddenly realized what the remote was for. "Hey now, look, I just found this!"

"Where?" asked Hanson, a B-shift paramedic.

"In my locker. Someone must have put it there."

"Real original, Johnny," Marco said with a hint of annoyance.

"It's true!"

"'Course, now you couldn't dust for fingerprints, since yours are now all over it, Johnny," Roy spoke up.

"But... but..."

From inside the day room, the remaining A-shift member was laughing quietly as he watched the show. He hadn't expected this new turn of events, but the completely innocent act from a clueless Johnny while getting almost all of B-shift too? Priceless. In this case, revenge had been so sweet. Of course, no-one would ever figure out it was him – he had covered his tracks well. But it was sweet nonetheless.

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_A/N: So tell me: through the careful process of elimination, especially at the end, did you figure out who it was? Tell me – who dun' it? And it _wasn't_ the butler... *Snickers thinking of Wadsworth from the "Clue" movie when he's wandering around in the dark and gets soaked when he turns the knob and instead of it being a door, finds out that it's the shower!*_


End file.
